A Different Beginning
by WistfulCotton
Summary: AU Story. Yuuki, an orphaned vampire has been adopted by the Chairman, what happens when the Chairman also takes in a Vampire Hunter orphan too? Is it possible for Zero and Yuuki still to become friends when Zero hates vampires so much? Spoilers Ch36
1. The New Arrival

**Summary: **AU Story. Yuuki the orphaned pureblood vampire has been adopted by the Chairman. The story of Zero and Yuuki's meeting. One sided Zero/Yuuki. Some Yuuki/Kaname possibly.

**Author's Note:** This is the first fanfic I've ever written. Your reviews are appreciated!

**Disclaimer:** Neither Vampire Knight nor any of its characters belong to me, and I love the work that Hino-sama is doing and hope I don't insult her with this.

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** The New Arrival**

There was barely any room to sit there, nonetheless a small dark haired girl sat perched precariously on the sill of the window, masked from view by the outside world by the lacey curtain. A ball of tension sat in the pit of Yuuki's stomach, but she was clueless as to why. The Chairman had made such a peculiar request, asking her to stay inside and keep completely out of sight until he notified her. He had then left abruptly in what was an abnormally agitated state. Yuuki hardly ever saw the Chairman so serious, so she waited apprehensively the window for three hours for his return.

Yuuki's patience was rewarded when the Chairman showed up gently guiding a young boy toward the house. She waited until they were nearly at the door, before silently slipping out to the kitchen, another room away from where she could still watch unobtrusively.

The door opened slowly and Yuuki could hear the Chairman's voice, speaking soothing words to the boy. The silver haired boy with him was sullen and silent, staring into the floor in a manner that Yuuki might have thought he was struck dumb except she spied the blood stains spread all over his neck and over his clothes. There was a lump in her throat as she felt a rising amount of horror grow within her heart. Yuuki felt tears welling up, she remembered an incident all too recently where she had been attacked by a crazed vampire and for a time she'd be afraid of her own kind – it was a scene she remember vividly, particularly his eyes, beastial and filled with an uncontrollable thirst for blood. She had been kept safe thanks to her beloved brother, but this boy in front of her had not been so fortunate.

Yuuki was confused as to why the Chairman asked her to keep away from this boy. She understood it was related to her vampiric nature, but he'd had never used such caution before when she had met victims of vampire attacks and they had not noticed anything unusual about her. What was so different about this boy? She studied the boy as the Chairman puttering about, still trying to put the boy at ease. She guessed he was about her age, but he had a sad almost emotionless look on his face that made him seem much older and his angelic face was marred by the blood spattered over it. She briefly wondered if it was his blood or someone else's, she hoped it was the latter, but she was not truly certain which was better.

Yuuki's frustration grew as she watched the Chairman ineffectually comfort the boy, she fought the urge to run out and help. As though he had heard her thoughts, the boy's head jerked up and he started looking about wildly, unexpectedly his eyes locked onto her direction and for a split second his eyes meet hers.

Yuuki jerked her body backwards out of view. She froze as she listened for a moment, waiting to see what the response would be, but no words came from the hall, the Chairman had fallen silent and miraculously, the boy didn't say a word about her presence. So she stealthily retreated back to the comfort of her bedroom.

The young girl's heart beat wildly as she threw herself onto her bed face down into her pillow. She willed herself to calm down. She now understood why the Chairman had asked her to stay hidden and Yuuki now regretted not being more cautious. Her cocky attitude had caught her out, she deserved to be punished for her mistake, but even if the Chairman had ever been inclined to do such as thing, he had far more pressing things on his mind right now. Yuuki was certain she had just made things more difficult; she wondered how on earth she might fix this situation.

She rolled over onto her back, she stared up into the ceiling as her got her heartbeat back under control. Her mind wandered back to that moment when she met his eyes, for once her wretched memory keep the image glaringly clear. She shivered a little, his eyes had been filled with rage and hatred, hatred for vampires, Yuuki knew it well.

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**Author's note:** This story is being written because I posed a question asking if Zero would still be in love Yuuki if she had been a vampire from the beginning, as yet, no one has said yes, so I'm writing a fic to see if I can make it true! This may be a very long story.

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	2. Nightmares

**Summary:** Slight AU Story. Yuuki the orphaned pureblood vampire has been adopted by the Chairman. Is it possible for Zero and Yuuki still to become friends? One sided Zero/Yuuki.

**Author's Note: **I barely slept last night, much like Yuuki in this chapter, I hope it doesn't reflect too much here though!

**Disclaimer:** Neither Vampire Knight nor any of its characters belong to me, and I love the work that Hino-sama is doing and hope I don't insult her with this.

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**Nightmares**

Yuuki had a bad day's sleep. She had tossed and turned the entire day, every sound and piece of light irritated her. Though she was a vampire, the girl didn't often sleep during the day, but after the disastrous night earlier, she'd felt the need to get some rest. Guilt had been eating away at her and her quality of the small amount of sleep that she had gotten was very low, now the lack of sleep and worry was making her feel nauseous. She lay on her bed staring at the tiny little patterns on the ceiling trying to shift her focus from her troubles.

She wished Kaname was there. She had had that nightmare again. It always started with the pure white snow, then _that vampire's_ dirty snarling face filled her vision, his fangs glinting menacingly asking if he could drink her blood. Shock and fear had frozen her to that spot. He had grabbed her so roughly, his fingernails dug into her arms, causing them to bleed. His fangs had barely grazed her neck when blood suddenly sprayed everywhere. That vampire's blood stained the snow. A cold and angry Kaname stood above his dead body. It was the only part of the dream that was comforting to her, but sometimes she woke up just before he saved her and that always bothered her.

She wondered if the boy had been bitten.

No matter what she tried to think about the image of that boy's hate filled eyes keep coming back to haunt her and hate that had been directed at her. Yuuki had never been the subject of such intense hatred before, she'd seen vampire victims rage at the subject of their hate with fear and anger, most never understood what truly happened before their memory was erased. Fear was always the common factor, there was no hate without fear – but not so with that boy. He had been traumatized and in shock, a reaction that she recognized well, but there had been no fear in him. It bothered her. She wondered why he was so different, even the fact that the Chairman brought him here and hadn't just erased his memory was cause for concern.

Yuuki sat up in bed and reached over and pulled opened the draw of her bedside table. She took out a small shiny metalic container, she then took the water jug and poured the liquid into a glass, the latch on the container clicked open and into the water fell two white pills. She watched as the pills slowly disolved and turned the liquid a deep red. She swirled the water for a moment before downing it in one gulp. Blood tablets. She had not been feeling any cravings, but she'd hoped that they might be able to settle her nerves nonetheless. It didn't work.

Yuuki was restless. She got out the bed and padded around the room. It was a large bed room with dolls and teddys stacked in one corner - the Chairman spoiled her...as did Kaname - on the other side of the stack keeping the pile steady was a large bookcase of which only one row was actually filled with books, the rest was a jumble of candles, figurines and various knickknacks she had collected over time. She walked over and pulled out one of the books at random, she flipped through the pages. She remembered the book, it was one one of the few she had finished. It was a sad story about a young couple who had fallen in love at first sight only to discover their families were bitter enemies. She had almost stopped reading at the point where the girl faked her death, Yuuki had gotten a bad feeling about the story's end so she'd then refused to continue. She didn't like stories that didn't end in a happily ever after, but her overwhelming curiosity about the story won out over the fear of the sad ending. She was still of two minds as to whether the ending had been good or not.

Yuuki continued to pace around the room. Eventually she found herself standing at her door, simply staring at the door handle. She felt dirty, she needed to go shower. With this small justification in mind, her hand reached out and touched the door knob, but she snatched it away when she heard a distant voice on the other side of the door. She was getting annoyed with herself, why did she find it so hard to stay away? She truly wanted to go and see how the boy was. She took a deep breath and climbed back into bed, she closed her eyes and tried futilely to go back to sleep.

It was near dusk before she finally received a knock at the door. She heard the Chairman's voice call her name softly.

"Come in." Her words came out a little hoarse, like she'd been crying.

The door slowly opened and the Chairman shuffled in, he looked as tired and weary as she felt. She sat up on the bed and faced him, she bowed her head awaiting his words.

"Yuuki? Are you alright?" The Chairman's words of concern sent a shot of confusion through her, she looked into his face with an expression of disbelief.

"What? How can you be asking me that? After what I did last night?" The words came out faster and colder than she could have anticipated, she was angry at herself and now she was yelling at him.

"Yuuki." The rebuke she was waiting for finally came, his words no longer soft. "It's my fault really and you didn't do anything wrong. What happened…well, it couldn't be helped and truth be told, the situation was already bad to begin with." In all honesty, it was not what she wanted to hear. He sighed. "I should have told you before I left…but it was just so complicated and I didn't have time…"

"No! I should have listened to you, I was too curious and then when I saw that boy…." She had a wretched look upon her face."I was going to come out…" She felt a deep sense of shame thinking about what might have happened if she'd followed her instincts.

"It's alright Yuuki." He sat down next to her, Yuuki threw her arms around him and buried her head into his shoulder. "It's alright, father will take care of you." He put a arm around her and patted her head. Yuuki held her head there all too briefly before pulling away.

"What about…the boy?" Yuuki's face held an equal mixture of misery and curiosity; she couldn't seem to help herself from wondering and worrying about him simultaneously.

"Zero Kiryuu." Kiryuu, the name immediately sounded vaguely familiar to Yuuki. She wondered if Kaname had said something to her once about it. "He's sleeping right now, he's been sleeping since last night. He'll need a lot of rest."

"Zero Kiryuu…" She tried the name out."He knew I was there, how?" It was not seemingly an important question to ask, but she felt like its answer would solve multiple mysteries in her mind.

"He's a vampire hunter." Yuuki felt a shiver of fear go through her. She wasn't afraid of hunters, the Chairman himself was a former hunter, but they were a different breed of human and sometimes it really showed. Truthfully, she had been more threatened by her own kind than those who are chosen to act as their executioners. "He can smell vampires, it's one of the talents that hunters gained." Yuuki pulled away from the Chairman, indignant and alarmed at the same time.

"You never told me hunters can smell vampires!" She protested in disbelief. A thought suddenly popped into her head regarding all those times they'd played hide-and-go-seek, had the Chairman just been faking? The eleven year old was suddenly annoyed that she'd been kept so ignorant all her life. Her expression was so comical that the Chairman might have been tempted to laugh had the situation not been as it was, as such, he was glad some of the tension in the room had been relieved.

"Last night his family was attacked by a vampire." Yuuki felt a bit of dread and déjà vu pierce her. A vampire attacking a family of hunters, he must have been mad. "Kiryuu-kun's parents were killed in front of him." Yuuki was stunned, disbelief that a mad vampire was capable of killing two experienced hunters, Yuuki might have dwelt on the thought a little longer, but knowing the source of Zero's anger made her feel a little relieved that she could understand him a little better. Though it was not quite the same, they now had a shared experience, bitter as it may be.

Yuuki could fully sympathise with Zero now. Of the attack in which her parents had been murdered she had been thankfully spared from witnessing, instead she watched as Kaname had rushed out had a fraction too late to save their father and he take up the sword that killed their father. Kaname used his powers to destroy their uncle, Yuuki squeezed her eyes shut when saw saw what he was about to do, but she still caught the smallest glimpse of the vampire turning into a sea of blood. She suspected she only felt a fraction of the horror that he had.

"And the vampire? What happened to him?"

"The vampire hunters association will take care of her." Yuuki nodded, it was only right that they avenge their own. She hoped for the boy's sake it didn't take too long.

"Was he bitten?" She asked.

The chairman hesitated before answering. "After the blood was cleared away, there were no bite marks." Yuuki felt relief flood through her, that was a small consolation amongst a deluge of horrors. "You need to get some proper sleep." The Chairman patted her on the head and stood up. Yuuki suddenly felt herself come over with weariness, like the Chairman had waved some sort of magic wand. She lay back down and tried to find a comfortable sleeping position. She ended up laying on her side facing the wall. She decided she needed to ask one more thing of the retreating Chairman.

"Is he gonna be ok?" She had other questions, but this was the only important one left.

"I don't know Yuuki, all I know is that if he's going to be healed it will take some time." He left with these words lingering in her mind.

…

To be continued.

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Please R&R!

**A/N:** I wish I didn't have to skip the scene where little Yuuki cleans the fragile Zero, but there was no way to fit it in, I didn't want to have the Chairman fill this role, so it's been left ambiguous, kay?

**TearDropsOnMyBlueJeans: **Thanks for the review. I'm pretty sure it'll be Zero/Yuuki in the end, but bear with me, as it probably going to be a long story to get there :)


	3. The Second Meeting

Disclaimer: Neither Vampire Knight nor any of its characters belong to me, and I love the work that Hino-sama is doing and hope I don't insult her with this.

**The Second Meeting**

Yuuki's stomach let out a long agonizing growl.

"I know." She said. "Me too." She glanced over at the clock, seven forty-five, almost time for the Chairman to bring Yuuki her dinner. She tried focusing on her workbook once more, but the number and letters were just jumbling together in a manner that made her feel like she was going cross-eyed. She sighed and placed her head, forehead on the desk. It wasn't really helping. She held some small glimmer of light she might be saved in a timely manner.

A knock eventually came at the door. Yuuki hopped up from her desk and almost skipped to the entrance of her room. She was greeted with a sunny smile but dinner free Chairman. She instantly frowned. Yuuki hoped this didn't mean she was going to miss out on dinner. She searched behind him as though he might be carrying a table or extravagant meal that was too difficult to carry, but the hall behind him looked no different to the usual view.

"What's going on?" she ventured to ask. Intuition warned her she might be in for some loony plan of his.

"Yuuki, its time for you to stop sulking and come have dinner at the dinner table like civilized people." He turned heel and started walking away without bothering to check to see if she was following. Naturally he had nothing to worry about, because Yuuki was forced to follow by her traitorous stomach.

"I'm not sulking; I just thought it would be better this way…" She meant staying out of sight. Keeping out of the young hunter's way, she had intended to keep hidden for as long as possible. It wasn't hard. She was a vampire and her kind was used to being patient. The thought did not follow that this behaviour was best utilised when hunting prey. She followed behind the Chairman keeping up her protests.

"I'm your father Yuuki, now let me decide what's best." Yuuki rolled her eyes behind his back.

Yuuki was considering her options for something to say, but the short walk was not long enough to give her brain time to decide what.

"I just don't want to accidentally run into the vampire hunter." She lamely concluded.

She stopped abruptly as they entered the room. Her heart almost leaped into her mouth. There he was sitting at the table. Yuuki did not expect to see him here, the blood rushed to her cheeks in embarrassment. But he did not seem to notice their entrance. He sat with his hand cupping his cheek and his head turned away from them, staring out at the night through the tall window. The boy seemed completely oblivious to them. The moon's light streamed in through the window glinting against his silver hair. To Yuuki he looked as still and as delicate as a statue.

The Chairman cleared his throat and Yuuki realized she'd been staring. Once again a pretty flush filled her cheeks. He slowly turned his head toward them and Yuuki braced herself for that look of hatred once more. Time seemed to slow down as his eyes met hers giving her morbid feeling of déjà vu. This time it was different though, the look of hatred was still there, but now it was dulled by lifelessness in his expression.

"Kiryuu-kun." The Chairman suddenly spoke, trying to ease the mounting tension. "This is my daughter, Yuuki Cross." He looked at Yuuki and wiggled his eyebrow. Yuuki took a step forward and bowed.

"It's very…" She stopped herself as the polite words she habitually said were not appropriate. She tried again. "Zero Kiryuu - I am honored to make your acquaintance." She looked up into his eyes, but his expression was set in stone and no response came from his corner. She took a gulp and took up a chair opposite him, the farthest position available at the small table. She bowed her head staring at the table.

The Chairman left the room and swiftly came back balancing three hot plates of delicious smelling food. He placed a plate of food in front of them both carefully and then sat at the middle of the table.

"Itadakimasu." Yuuki murmured the word softly along with the Chairman and picked up her chopsticks. She briskly began eating her food in an extremely unladylike fashion. She coughed as she choked feebly on a little piece of her dinner. She caught him watching her. There might have been a look of disgust on his face, but Yuuki didn't see that. Instead Kiryuu-kun's lavender eyes unexpectedly warmed her. Yuuki hadn't noticed the beautiful color before and she wondered how such a sad boy could have such pretty eyes. Unknowingly, she found herself smiling while thinking about how no boy would like to be called pretty in any fashion. Yuuki's thoughts and her smile rapidly vanished when she finally became aware of his bitter expression. She put her head down and started eating again, swallowing her food in large quantities.

"Yuuki!" The Chairman protested. "Does this mean you really like what I have so lovingly prepared for you?" Yuuki looked up from her food. In truth she'd been trying to eat quickly so as to be able to leave the room. She couldn't resist peaking at Kiryuu-kun. He was moving his food back and force with his chopsticks, but mostly the food seemed untouched. Yuuki felt a twinge of concern when she realized this meant he wasn't eating, she wondered if it was her. The knot of guilt that had been permanently festering in her stomach since their first meeting started to grow in size. She put her own chopsticks down, she suddenly couldn't eat anymore. The Chairman barely noticed, but the room was deafeningly quiet.

He looked up when he heard Yuuki's chair scrape across the floor.

"Yuuki?"

Yuuki blinked her eyes a few times; they were starting to fill up with moisture. She couldn't look at the hunter again, but she knew he was watching her, because she could feel his eyes on her. She looked over at the Chairman.

"I'm sorry, I have to go. Thank you for the food, it was delicious." She bowed her head and then rushed out of the room without looking back. She did not hear the Chairman calling her name, she didn't hear gusty wind blowing when she opened the door, she didn't hear the sound of rolling thunder as she ran out of the house. All she could hear was the sound of her rapid heart, beating in her ears.

Once she stopped running she found herself in the middle in the dark woods. The tall trees towered above her keeping out what little moonlight there was. Dark shadows interweaved with the trees and both starting growing toward her. Yuuki feared being on her own and there were few places as intimidating as the woods was beginning to seem.

"Yuuki!" She heard a familiar voice calling her name but she couldn't see the source. The rain was coming down hard and fast obscuring her vision. She heard the familiar voice calling her name from afar. Perhaps it was because she really wanted to see him that she thought it was his voice. She ran towards the sound. She had barely run ten steps before her footsteps came to a halt, her shoes soaking in all the wet so that they made a squelching sound. The sound of the wind and the rain came rushing to her ears. There was no voice. The howling wind and cold fast rain beat at her, cruelly showing her how her flimsy clothes were of no defense against them. There was no voice. Her cold wet clammy clothes stuck to her skin. There was no voice. She was alone.

Yuuki walked back in a daze, her instincts guiding her. The wind pulled at her hair, teasing her and making a mockery of her futile attempt to run. Not that she had any idea of where she had been trying to run to. She was soaked to the bone.

"Yuuki!" The Chairman stood soaking in the rain waiting for her outside the house. She had been foolish. She had lost herself and she had no clue as too really why. Now she had brought others into her foolishness. She walked into the house dripping water onto the wooden floors, the Chairman close behind her, closed the door, finally blocking the sound of the wind and the rain.

She turned to look back at him. The Chairman had a sad compassionate expression on his face. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but she was not likely to answer at this point in time. Yuuki's expression was so lost, he wanted to take the girl and pull her into his arms. But she held him at arm's length with that look in her eyes.

"Where is Onii-sama?" It was a demanding question, desperate at the same time. It was the kind of question he was unable to answer. "Why isn't Onii-sama here?" Yuuki slowly sank to the floor. "Why am I here? Why am I not with Onii-sama? I belong with him." The tears finally started flowing freely.

The Chairman felt the weight life from his shoulders; he crouched down to her level and tightly hugged Yuuki. He kept holding her while she sobbed.

Zero watched the scene through the doorway. He did not feel any pity or happiness at seeing the vampire girl crying. If Yuuki or the Chairman had looked up, they would have seen the same stony expression on his face as before. He slowly moved backward. Within himself though he felt a rising sense of anger at her, by what rights did she have to cry? But he kept his anger locked inside; he did not want to think about her anymore.

The chairman had a sad pitiful smile on his face. Yuuki was unhappy. In the past there were few times when she was truly upset and showed it so obviously. Kaien Cross could think of only one thing that would truly make his Yuuki happy.

--

Yuuki sat quietly in the car. The Chairman had declared they would have a day together and left Zero Kiryuu in the care of Momoyama-san, the housekeeper. Yuuki shifted impatiently in her seat when thoughts of Kiryuu-kun came into her mind. She half suspect Kiryuu-kun would run away without them in the house to keep him there. The Chairman had told her that he'd caught Kiryuu-kun once trying to sneak out and had cheerfully told him that he would hunt Zero down to the ends of the earth if he ever actually got away. Yuuki was not sure if Kiryuu-kun knew the Chairman well enough to understand how true the statement was.

The Chairman watched Yuuki in the rearview mirror. He wondered if Yuuki knew how plainly her thoughts were written on her face. He parked the vehicle outside a grand old building that resembled a hotel. Despite claiming the contrary to Yuuki, the Chairman was always well aware of Kaname's whereabouts. However gaining access to him was another matter. For once luck was on the Chairman's side as Yuuki's brother was already in the lobby of the building.

"Onii-sama!!" Yuuki ran out to meet the tall aristocratic boy. Kaname was surrounded by several gentlemen. Among them a young boy should have stood out awkwardly. Kaname did stand out, but as one who looked poised and in control standing with them. Kaname turned and his face lit up when he saw the young girl. Kaname swiftly stepped away from his associates and scooped Yuuki into a hug. For Yuuki, the hug was all to brief as he let her go before she could truly feel his warmth. Kaname took her hand and led her away from the small group.

Kaname did not speak until they were a decent distance from the business men. "I'm very sorry Yuuki, I don't have much time. What are you doing here?" His words were soft and gentle. Regardless Yuuki cowered as if she was being told off.

"I'm sorry; I just wanted to see my Onii-sama. It's been so long since you've come to visit me." Yuuki barely keep the pout from her mouth, but as the words came out of her mouth, she became aware of how childish she was sounding.

Kaname studied Yuuki, his gaze piercing into her soul. She felt as if he could see everything about her with his intense gaze. She held her breath.

"What's wrong Yuuki?" He glanced around him, appearing to search for some kind of danger. "Has something upset you?" His words, though concerned and caring, had an undercurrent of steel beneath them. "It's the boy isn't it? The…hunter." Kaname's mild expression did not change. Yuuki detected a veiled threat of anger coming from him. She immediately regretting coming and upsetting Kaname with her silliness…in truth she wasn't completely sure why she had gotten so absurdly upset in the first place.

"No! Onii-sama…" Her voice trailed off. It was true that he was the source of her distress, but she did not want Kaname getting worked up about it. She simply needed…she tried to grasp in her mind just why she had come to see him. She looked in the direction towards where the Chairman should have been. Yuuki tried to think of something that would redirect Kaname's anger. "He was sad, Onii-sama."

"Yuuki." Her name upon Kaname's lips was like a lover's caress. "It was that Chairman Cross who convinced me to let Kiryuu-san stay with you." Kaname had a wry look upon his face. He shook his head before looking back into her eyes. "I agreed Yuuki. Because he convinced me that you could help him".

Yuuki opened her mouth to respond. Kaname motioned with his hand for her not to say anything.

"Yuuki, I'm not interested in helping the boy. I'm tolerating this only because I owe a large debt to Chairman Cross." His eyes regained the warmth from moments earlier. "Whether or not you realize it Yuuki, you help people. You make them smile and feel warmth – in the same way that only you can bring the light into my life."

His words sent a new conviction into her heart. She would help Zero Kiryuu.

--

A/N: Zero is definitely fighting me on the whole friendship with Yuuki then, but then Yuuki hasn't been much help so far…more progress next chapter I swear!


	4. Hunting Nightmares

**Summary:** Slight AU Story. Yuuki the orphaned pureblood vampire has been adopted by the Chairman. Is it possible for Zero and Yuuki still to become friends? One sided Zero/Yuuki.

**Disclaimer:** Neither Vampire Knight nor any of its characters belong to me, and I love the work that Hino-sama is doing and hope I don't insult her with this.

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**Hunting Nightmares**

Yuuki stopped at the doorstep for a moment. The girl was lost as to how she could proceed. Kaname's words had filled her with a sense of obligation and confidence in herself. She was aware that it was not actually his intentions to get her hyped up, but oddly she felt a sense of excitement in thinking about being able to help Kiryuu kun. 'No' She mentally berated herself, she would at least call him 'Zero kun'.

"Yuuki?" The Chairman's voice came from behind her. He was unable to enter with Yuuki standing there off in a dream while blocking the entrance to the house, clearly forgetting about everything around her. Yuuki jumped with the start and hopped into the house. Kaien smiled. The girl was so very unlike a vampire, it was easy to forget she wasn't a normal girl.

Yuuki raced around the house until she found Momoyamo-san. That is to say, the girl ran straight into the housekeeper and had she been travelling any faster, the housekeeper would have been bowled over. Yuuki nearly toppled to the ground from the collision. She was caught by the elbows by the elderly lady. Yuuki blushed.

"I'm so sorry Momoyama-san!"

The woman gave Yuuki her kind smile. She tilted her head at the girl's impulsiveness.

"What's got you in such a state?"

Yuuki's eyes opened wide and full of sincerity. "Well, I was looking for Kiryuu-kun."

The hopeful look in her eyes, tugged at Momoyama's heart. She had argued with the Chairman after she had learned that the man had brought the hunter boy to his house. She feared that the clashes would hurt their gentle Yuuki. Thus far, she had helped keep the two children apart and it had been easy with both reluctant to see the other. But today, Kiryuu-kun had slipped away from her watchful eye to an unknown place. Even more troublesome, now Yuuki wanted to find him. She knew her worry was reflected in her face because Yuuki's expression had clouded over.

"You don't think I should look for him." It was a statement, not a question.

"Well, I'm not sure its wise, dear one." She hesitated to continue, suspecting she knew what Yuuki's reaction would be to her next words. "And Kiryuu-kun has been missing for a while."

"Missing!" Yuuki's eyes widened with surprise and concern. She did an about-face turn and ran back in the direction she had come from. Momoyama merely stood watching.

Yuuki spent a scant amount of time searching for the Chairman before she decided he was not going to be easily found. Undoubtedly the Chairman probably knew the minute he stepped inside the house that Zero was missing. He seemed to have a sixth sense about these thing. Playing Hide-and-seek with the Chairman had never been very fun, there had been no secret hiding place that he couldn't find and it seemed they were always found with ease to her eternal frustration. Even with her brain thinking about a million things at once, she still stopped briefly and put on a winter jacket. She was a vampire, but it was habit ingrained in her by the chairman to look after herself even in the smallest things. He was always worried about her even though he didn't always say it.

_On the drive back from the short visit to see Kaname, Yuuki had been unusually quiet and introspective. The Chairman refrained from asking what she had discussed with Kaname, though he was clearly curious. The Chairman keep looking at her through the rearview mirror. __She had met his eyes only once, but it had been enough to see the nervousness festering there. She gave him a weak smile. The Chairman frowned. _

_"Yuuki?"_

_"Yes?..."_ _Yuuki was sure he was going to ask her what she was planning. She was a little concerned that he would interfere. Whether it was to help or to hinder, Yuuki wanted to do this on her own. She needed to do this on her own. "Yes?"  
_

_"Have you done your homework like you promised you would before we left?"_

_Yuuki smiled weakly again._

She opened the door to the outside and was met with a freezing wind. She walked outside and stealthily began her search. Yuuki thought about her actions and emotions from the day before. It puzzled her as to why she had been so unreasonably upset. Did she really have the right to get so emotional? She hadn't been the victim. Not this time anyway. She thought about what the Chairman had told Kaname. That he thought she could help Kiryuu-kun. Yuuki knew deep down in her heart she had a yearning to help him. And it was breaking her heart that she was causing him more suffering. It wasn't fair to either of them. But Kiryuu-kun had to know that not all vampires were not like the one that attacked his family. The Chairman must have believed that too, otherwise why else would he be so crazy as to bring the hunter here. A tiny little voice in the back of her mind reminded her that the Chairman could just be plain crazy. Not in this though. As crazy as he was, Yuuki knew his compassion and conviction. He wouldn't make such big a mistake here.

Yuuki wandered outside for a while with her thoughts jumbled in her head. Her shoes sunk into the muck of the wet ground. She made a thick squelching sound with each step that she took as her shoes got dirtier and muddier. Any other vampire's keen senses would have heard the snort of derision, but Yuuki with her distractions continued to wander around aimlessly.

Whether Zero had wanted the vampire girl to find him or not, he couldn't help the second louder snort when he realised she hadn't noticed him at all.

She looked up and high above her, perched in the branches of the tree, was the slight silver haired boy. Yuuki blinked. His cold eyes stared her down. Yuuki was more than a little bewildered. She hadn't honestly expected to be the one to find Kiryuu-kun. Her efforts had been more about appeasing her worry than success. She had been subconsciously certain that the Chairman would be the one to find him. So to find the hunter boy coldly staring down at her from amongst the strong branches of her favourite tree, was more than a little startling. She stared at him stupidly, finding herself mute and unable to respond to her apparent success.

She distinctly heard the "che" sound come from him this time. It was his third response. It was an insult, no matter what way you looked at it. Yuuki was not offended, rather, she was delighted. His derision of her was the first verbal response from the boy, somewhat verbal anyway. So she smiled. She actually smiled at Kiryuu-kun. Yuuki's smile was sunny and bright, her smile was capable of cheering up everyone around her. Only his heart, encased in stone, was kept from being touched by a smile like that.

Yuuki kept smiling. "Please come down. It's cold out here and everyone is worried for you." Silence. "Please?"

The uncomfortable silence lasted for a few minutes. Yuuki waited with baited breath, madly considering climbing up the enormous tree herself. She was saved from potential humiliation when miraculously the boy jumped out of the tree. He landed with a gentle thump on the other side of the tree trunk, furthest away from Yuuki. He said nothing as he walked past her and headed toward the house. She was a little disgruntled when she saw he left no footprints as he walked and she vaguely wondered how he managed it. She trotted back quickly into the warmth of the house. She called out to his retreating person. Zero turned to face her. His coldness and loathing was back in full force, engraved onto his face.

She froze. All her earlier thoughts, of talking with him and being able to help him, flew out of her mind. Truly, she had no idea how to talk to him. Yuuki had been too far ahead of the situation, anything she could do for him would take patience and time.

"Uh...would you mind finding the Chairman?...I think he's still looking for you."

Zero turned back and continued walking leaving Yuuki to wonder if he was going to follow her request or not. She decided it was a positive thing that he was not completely ignoring her, he definitely could have just continued walking away or stayed up in that tree. She gave herself a small point of victory.

Yuuki later found the Chairman sitting, one leg crossed over the other relaxed in his favourite lounge chair. The fire roared warming, radiating it warmth to everyone in the house. Yuuki watched the flames, entranced by their dance.

"Yuuki?" The Chairman jolted Yuuki out of her semi trance. He smiled at her, his head tilted slightly, making his wonky glasses look slight straighter on his face for once. Though it was incredibly warm in the room, the Chairman was still wrapped up in a giant scarf, enclosed in a thick wollen coat and finally comical slippers on his feet. He looked like he was ready to weather a snow storm.

"Did you find Kiryuu- Zero Kun?" If the chairman noticed that she had changed her manner of addressing Zero, he didn't say anything.

The Chairman smiled sheepishly.

"Actually, Kiryuu-kun found me. I was trying to track his movements, when he just showed up right there, in front of me." The Chairman left out the part where he'd nearly jumped out of his skin to see the boy coming from nowhere. "That boy is a little scary." He admitted. The Chairman recalled Kiryuu's cold eyes staring directly at him, when normally he barely merited a greeting from the boy. For Kiryuu to show up out of the blue and be staring him down, was a bit daunting to the Chairman. "Well, no matter, he's back safe and sound, tucked away in his room." The Chairman refused to share his worry about Kiryuu's depression with Yuuki. His daughter's bleeding heart sympathised with all the victims she met and she seemed to take a little of it into herself. He worried about her too.

Yuuki smiled at the chairman, pleased that Zero had followed her suggestion.

"Now, have you done your homework young lady?" The Chairman tried putting on his best stern voice. Yuuki gave him a cheesy grin and shrugged her shoulders.

"Plenty of time for it tomorrow!" She skipped away before she could hear anything more from him.

Yuuki yawned and blinked away the tears of tiredness trying to overtake her. She hated trying to concentrate on her homework on a Sunday afternoon. She wished she'd done the work that morning, or yesterday when the Chairman had reminded her originally. It was only 3pm in the afternoon, the lazy sun was taking it time going across the sky. Yuuki felt so tired that she felt it must be the vampire in her heavily suggesting she go to sleep. She lay her head down on the desk for a minute, hoping the exhaustion would be chased away if she gave into for just a short while.

Her head jerked up as she awoke with start. She rubbed her eyes, finding her face was wet. Drool was dripping from the side of her mouth, but it was the tears in her eyes that were responsible. Tears from forgotten nightmares. She looked over at the window. It was pitch black and the room temperature had dropped below zero. The lack of light caused her eyes to start glowing as they rapidly adjusted to help her see. Yuuki felt a soreness in her tummy, just before it began to let out a long growl of discontent. She had missed dinner. She was more than a little surprised that the Chairman had not bugged her to attend dinner. Yuuki got up and made her way to the door still surrounded by darkness. She prayed they had left some food for her.

She walked into the hallway, her eyes glowed as she navigated her way to the kitchen. Except for the odd creak and groan, the house was eerily quiet. The Chairman filled the house with warmth and noise during the day and she had felt lonely during the night Yuuki was reminded of why she chose to keep human hours rather than giving to a vampire's natural instinct. Yuuki felt a chill go through her. Yuuki smelt blood as she walked past the dinning room.

She stopped cold, certain of the source. She willed herself to move on. The old wooden door was ajar. She stood at the door for an uncertain amount of time until she heard the smell of the blood become too difficult to ignore. Her heart started pounding. She pushed the door open a little more and walked in. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the boy crumpled in the corner of the room clutching at his neck, a dazed and slightly crazed look in his eyes.

Her vampire hunger for blood was quelled with horror as she realised his fingers were clawing at his neck, desperately scrapping at the skin. Enough to cause him to bleed.

"What are you doing?...Zero...kun..." She whispered the words ever so gently.

"It feels disgusting..." His eyes were glazed over as he robotically answered her. "I can still feel that woman..."

Yuuki felt like ice frozen over. The bottled up guilt and horror burst through. She felt her heart break. She shook her head fiercely.

"It's painful...stop it." She couldn't tell if he even was listening to her. He was not reacting in the same way he had before to her. His fingers continued to gouge deeply into his neck, his gaze lost to the darkness.

"STOP IT!" She couldn't stop herself from yelling the words as she lunged forward and pulled his arm away from his neck. His clenching stopped and he remained as still as a doll. Her arms holding onto his. Her heart raced a million miles a minute.

"Please let me help you." She held his arm to her face. His face slowly turned towards her, beginning to acknowledge her when he felt the wetness of her tears on his hand. He looked at her with such a look of despair, she did not see it as her eyes were closed tight trying to hold back her sobs. She was just a twelve year old girl crying.

He pulled his arm from her grasp. She finally looked up at him. He couldn't bear to see her expression, he did not want her sympathy or pity, not from her of all people.

"Go away." His words were hard.

"But...you won't..." She choked on the words, she found it hard to speak through her sobs.

"Leave me alone." This time, it was not a command, his words almost becoming a plea. Was it something about her vampiric nature that seized upon the weakness she suddenly sensed in him?

"I'm sorry...please...let me help you." She persisted. Yuuki did not contemplate why she so desperately needed to help him. Perhaps she felt like it was helping herself. She would rather take action than think about her feelings too hard.

"I don't need help from a monster." Zero did not say the words venomously. But the words cut her deeply. She wanted to protest that she was not a monster. That she knew what it was like to be attacked by a mad vampire. She knew what it was like to see your family murdered in front of you. His pain was reminding Yuuki of her own pain. After six years she had buried her fears and sadness deep and the only evidence that it continued to trouble her were the terrible dreams she had every night.

She rubbed the tears from her eyes as she stood up.

"This monster is going to help you." She declared the words as they burned onto her soul. It was a promise whether or not he knew it.

Yuuki walked out of the room and left Zero to mull on her words.

Yuuki walked back to her room, no longer wary of the darkness. She climbed into her cold bed and dwelled upon Zero's words. She smiled as she realised he had spoken to her. His first words since the attack had to been to her of all people. Not even the Chairman's silly nature had been able to coax him to speak. The despair she had felt so deeply moments before was chased away by the quiet elation building in her heart, it felt good.

Her stomach growled attempting to defy her happiness. Yuuki groaned and threw her bedcovers over her head. She had forgotten all about her poor stomach, but she was not brave enough to venture forth out there again. It would wait until morning. For the first time since her parents had been murdered, she slept without having any nightmares.

To be continued.

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Next Chapter: Zero's response.

Please note - I have to re-upload this once my beta-reader edits this, I just got ahead of myself and posted it already XD - JI beg your forgiveness on any stupid mistakes!

Thanks for your reviews! They keep me from dragging my feet too much (yes, I could be slower XD)


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